Semblance
by Kkwy
Summary: Shin’ichi Kudo looked down at Heiji Hattori. “You look like an eight year old,” he said finally.AU, in which Hattori and Shin'ichi switch roles.
1. In Which Heiji is Reckless

**Title:** Semblance  
**Author:** Kkwy  
**Rating:** PG  
**Characters:** Heiji Hattori, Shin'ichi Kudo, Ran Mouri, Kazuha Toyama  
**Pairings:** none (yet)  
**Summary:** _Shin'ichi Kudo looked down at Heiji Hattori. "You look like an eight year old," he said finally_.

"Idiot! I told you we should have left sooner. Look, it's already dark out."

Heiji Hattori, teen detective, pretended not to hear his friend's complaints as they navigated through the crowded amusement park.

"How was I supposed to know there'd be a car crash on the highway? Get real, Kazuha, this isn't my fault."

The pair of high schoolers was approaching the Mystery Coaster when a heavyset man in a black hat and trench coat shoved past them. Heiji watched silently as the man glanced back, and then ran into the alley created by two food stands. It was already dark out, and the man had been wearing sunglasses. You didn't have to be a detective to know that the man didn't want to be recognized.

"Don't you dare, Hattori!"

"What, I haven't done anything!" Heiji spun around to face Kazuha, and found her on the ground. "That little push didn't hurt you, did it?" Wearing all black at an amusement park? And the sunglasses were highly suspicious…

The Osakan girl began to turn red in anger. "We're here to have fun, don't you dare go off on a case now!"

Heiji scoffed. He was a detective! Not only that, he was the Great Detective of the West! It was his duty to investigate things like this. Kazuha would just have to learn to accept that.

"Sorry Kazuha." And with that, Heiji Hattori ran off in pursuit of the man in the black suit.

Heiji stood flat against the brick wall and strained his ears to hear what the suspects were saying. He had seen a black briefcase and glimpsed its contents. His suspicion had been confirmed. The man in black was involved in some kind of criminal transaction. Heiji was betting it was smuggled weapons or drugs.

The man in black was saying something, but Heiji was too far away to make out exactly what it was…

From behind him, Heiji heard footsteps on the damp grass. The Osakan youth turned around just in time to avoid the thick pipe aimed at his skull. If he hadn't been taking kendo for years, he wouldn't have been able to dodge the assault.

A commotion behind him alerted Heiji to the fact that the man in black had noticed him as well. It was unfortunate that Hattori allowed all of his attention to be taken up by his blond haired attacker. Otherwise, he might have been able to escape when the man in the black suit pinned him to the ground.

With what felt horribly like a gun muzzle on the back of his neck, Heiji couldn't move a muscle. Instead, he listened to his captors hurried argument. He didn't hear a third voice, maybe the other criminal had fled? As his mind began to wander, something small and rubbery was forced into his mouth. All rational thought fled his mind as Heiji struggled to free himself. A vial of a liquid he hoped was water emptied into his mouth, and someone held his nose closed. The reflex to swallow was unavoidable. A searing pain shot through Heiji's chest, and he didn't even notice the man in black and his partner in crime retreating into the night.

To Shin'ichi Kudo, high school detective, seeing a dead body and a crying murderer was not a shocking occurrence. In fact, it seemed to happen most weekends. That is not to say that it didn't bother him a little, but really, wasn't Ran overacting a bit? He wasn't heartless, just…disillusioned.

However, even having a detective for a father, the murder on the Mystery Coaster had shaken Ran Mouri.

As Shin'ichi watched his childhood friend wipe tears from her face, a strange noise caught his attention. Apart from the clamor of the park he heard the sound of a scuffle on grass. Shin'ichi turned his head in the direction of the sounds in time to see two shadowy figures saunter away from the area.

"I'll catch up with you later, Ran," Shin'ichi mentioned to his friend as he took off after the figures that he recognized, at a distance, as the two men from the Mystery Coaster.

Shin'ichi slowed his running and gazed around him. It was no use, the two men had been too far away to follow. He was about to turn back and salvage the night with Ran when someone's muffled scream reached his ears. The teen detective was on full alert as he did a quick search of the area.

There was a boy in the shadows to his right. He was curled up and clutching his chest, letting out whimpers of pain periodically.

Shin'ichi swore; heart attack? The boy looked about Shin'ichi's age, and a bit young for a heart attack. Maybe he had heart problems?

Shin'ichi rushed to the boy's side and reached for the cell phone in his pocket. An ambulance would be good, right now. He looked back at the victim as he dialed.

A sweaty hand grasped at his shirt and the cell phone dropped from his hand. The victim pulled Shin'ichi closer to him and tried to say something through ragged breaths. Shin'ichi was too shocked by what he saw before him to listen, however. Where a teenage boy had been a moment before, a small child now lay. Shin'ichi stared at the boy for some time, until a police siren distracted him.

By now, the boy had relaxed and had fallen unconscious. His breathing was even and his pulse was fine.

For reasons he wouldn't remember, but would later be infinitely grateful for, Shin'ichi declined taking the shrunken boy to the hospital, and instead picked the child up and began to walk home.


	2. In Which Heiji Wakes Up

Semblance 2

_First person present, Heiji's POV_

As I am thrust unceremoniously out of the warm haze of sleep, I quickly realize a few things. The first is that my arms and legs feel like they have fallen asleep themselves. I hate that feeling. It feels like a have a bunch of needles under my skin. Or maybe ants. Ants with needles. Gah.

Also, there is a bright light shinning on my face. This could be for a few reasons that quickly run through my head.

One: I fell asleep outside. Not possible, as I can definitely feel a mattress beneath me.

Two: Sunlight is shinning through my window. I don't think so. I usually keep the curtains drawn at night, and this light isn't warm enough to be sunlight.

Conclusion: Someone has turned the lights on.

I groggily open my eyes and prepare to demand a few more minutes of sleep from whoever has awoken me.

This, I am quick to notice, is not my room. This is not my parents' room, or Kazuha's, or any other room I ever remember being in.

Well, from what I can see, this looks like a teenage boy lives here. There is a misshapen soccer ball in the corner, a desk full of school books, and a dark blob that I'm pretty sure is actually a backpack.

There is no sign of the room's inhabitant. I swing my legs over the side of the bed, but I'm suddenly overcome with a feeling of vertigo. I feel dizzy, my stomach is churning, and my body is slowly rocking back and forth. I think I'd better lie down soon or-

THUMP 

Ouch.

Should falling off a bed hurt this much? Come to think of it, my feet weren't touching the ground just then, was it a bunk bed? That's weird; my view of the room from that bed wasn't high enough for that.

I hear footsteps outside the room. Someone is coming. Could it be-?

The memory of last night hits me in the gut and makes my stomach churn all over again. The two men in black coats; the payoff; gun smuggling.

Being drugged.

The door is open now; someone runs over and reaches for me.

His large hand is cold on my collar bone. (I suddenly realize that I'm very warm. Do they have a heater on?)

I scream and try to fight the man off. My eyes aren't focusing, I can only see the blue of his shirt, but he must be a man with this size and strength.

I'm losing. My arms feel weak and tired; a side-effect of the drug?

The man says something, but I don't hear it.

The drug; why aren't I dead?

The man isn't fighting me anymore; he has retreated a few feet, giving me a better view of him. Hey! It's only a teenager, a kid about my age! He looks oddly familiar. He could easily be a classmate of mine, or someone I met on a case. The guy is talking again, and this time I'm listening.

"Shit, shit. Calm down, kid. Are you ok?"

Who's he calling a kid? And- hey, how did a guy his size overpower me a minute ago?

"Are you feeling alright? What's your name?"

He doesn't know who I am? He speaks with a Tokyo accent, so I haven't been taken back to Osaka. Is this guy with the men wearing black? Have I been kidnapped?

"Who are you?" I manage to ask. Ow, my throat hurts, "Where am I?"

Geeze, is something wrong with my ears, too? My voice isn't that high-pitched.

"You're safe here. I'm Shin'ichi Kudo, and we're at my house."

Shin'ichi Kudo? Heisei Holmes? The Highschool Detective of the East? How in the world did I manage not to recognize him?

I cough and try to say, "What happened?" as evenly as possible. This is my first time meeting Kudo, but it would have been impossible for me not to have heard of him. This guy is supposed to be as good as me with detective work.

"To be honest," Kudo admits, "I was hoping you could tell me. I was following a suspicious person when I found you thrashing around in the grass near Tropical Land. You grabbed my shirt and passed out."

He seems to be telling to truth, but something doesn't add up.

"A stranger has a fit and loses consciousness, but you don't call the police or an ambulance?" What kind of detective is he? Could Kudo really be working with the smugglers?

He's giving me that look. I recognize it. I've seen my dad and his colleagues give it often enough. I've even used it more than once. Kudo is trying to figure out how much to tell me in order to get me to reveal what I know.

What happened to me isn't a secret. I need to tell the police what happened as soon as possible. However, Kudo is not the police, and I'm still not sure what role he plays in all of this.

He's looking down at me. That's bad. I'm an equal, not an inferior. I'm not a victim or a suspect, I'm a fellow detective. I've dealt with too many adults not to know that I need to be eye to eye with him if I want to be taken seriously.

I struggle to stand up using the (strangely tall) bed to steady me. Something is wrong. Kudo shouldn't tower over me like this. I'm not exactly short, you know.

"What's your name, kid?" he asks me again.

Why does he keep calling me that? We're both juniors in highschool. He isn't older than me.

"I'm Heiji Hattori, stop calling me a kid!" My voice still sounds weird, but Kudo's is fine. Maybe it's a side effect of my sore throat? Speaking of the Eastern detective, he's still watching me, but his gaze has softened a bit. He looks kind of thoughtful, I guess.

"Heiji Hattori, Highschool Detective of the West?" he asks incredulously. In any other situation, I would be flattered he has heard of me. As it is, a decisive nod indicated that yes, I am who I say, you moron.

"You look like a gradeschooler," he divulges. Oh.

What! Just because he's freakishly tall doesn't mean that I'm a-

Little details that have been bothering me until now begin to add up. The angle of the room and the height of the bed, Kudo's size and my weakness, my voice and Kudo's last statement…

One good look at my own hands confirms my suspicions, and makes me highly doubt an old western saying.

Kudo is leaving the room and indicates that I should follow. I comply almost automatically. We seem to be at least on the second story of this house (which, I remind myself, Kudo said is his.). We pass a flight of stairs to our left and I make a note of their location in case Kudo isn't what he seems and I need to get the hell out of Dodge.

Kudo opens the second door to the right and flicks on the light switch. It's very bright and pink in what appears to be a bathroom. I probably shouldn't be in a hurry to meet Kudo's mother, if this is her doing. He's motioning toward the mirror mounted over the sink, but it's at a bad angle. I can't see my reflection. Kudo seems to realize this, and he-

"Hey!" I let out an undignified shriek as he hoists me up from under my armpits and puts me down on the marble countertop.

He picked me up! Besides the blow to my masculinity, do you know how weird that feels? It was scary, I felt helpless.

At least I'm on level with the mirror now. If I didn't believe Kudo before, I sure as hell do now.

My reflection is no longer Heiji Hattori, Highschool Detective of the West. I'm just a little kid now, wearing clothes that are much too big. It's a wonder Kudo believes me about my identity at all.

What have those men done to me?


End file.
